


Best-laid Plans

by pizzabender1 (jorlau)



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Awkward Romance, Chandra Disaster Bisexual, Chandra Human Trash Fire, Embarrassment, F/F, Fluff, accidental proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 21:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18535612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jorlau/pseuds/pizzabender1
Summary: Chandra is really, definitely, 100% going to talk to Nissa. Lay her cards on the table, open up, confess her feelings, see if maybe Nissa will go out with her. She's got aplan.Or: Mrs. Pashiri does what the whole fandom's been wanting to do since Amonkhet and pushes these two oblivious darlings to leave the safe harbor of plausible deniability.





	Best-laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

> Not dealing with Chandra's trauma in the aftermath of WAR here; please assume that she has processed enough of that for this to be reasonable and accept the fluff. You'll be a lot happier that way, I promise.
> 
> Disclaimer: This story is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

I’m going to talk to Nissa.

I sort of did before, on Amonkhet. I cringe looking back at it, now: she was sick and disoriented, literally hating the world, and I just went for it anyway because rushing in is what I _do_. Heart logic. I said that sappy thing – _nowhere else I’d rather be_ , could I have been any cheesier? – and when she dismissed it, I still tried to ask her out and got shot down with a smile. Stupid.

When Mrs. Pashiri got the story out of me, she had a different take on it.

“Chandra, dear,” she said, almost scolding, which was weird because she never scolds me, “do you really think Nissa understood what you were asking her? She’s a very sensitive person, but she isn’t the best at reading people.”

We argued about it for a while, but I had to admit Mrs. Pashiri had a point. Nissa said herself she misunderstands people a lot, and she probably hasn’t dated anyone in even longer than she’s had friends who weren’t planes. If she’s ever dated. That might not be a thing, in Joraga culture. Or she might not be into people, but I can’t think about that right now. I need to just talk to her about it.

So I’m going to Zendikar to do that, and I’m trying not to worry about whether Nissa likes people, or women, or humans, or specifically me, until I can actually ask her. Instead, I’m trying to plan out what to say, because I need to make sure that there’s no question about what I mean or what she means.

“Nissa, I like you.” Not specific enough, and tacking on a “like, like-like” is a way I haven’t embarrassed myself since I was thirteen and am not going to ever do again, thank you very much.

“Nissa, I’m in love with you.” Just the thought of it makes me want to dissolve into nothingness, just planeswalk to nowhere and never come out again. I haven’t tried to start a romantic relationship by declaring actual undying love since I was… sixteen, I think. Nissa would probably be nicer about it than that guy was, but no way am I finding out.

“Do you want to come visit Kaladesh sometime and get that tour?” Not embarrassing, but she’ll definitely think I mean as friends. Maybe I could say I want to do it as a date, but I’m still not sure if she’d know what that meant. I need something more direct.

“I want to have a romantic relationship with you.” I can’t imagine myself saying that. It reminds me of when Jace and I went out drinking and he was trying to flirt with the bartender, except drunk Jace rambles a lot. It’s probably the sort of thing Jace says when he’s trying to pick someone up sober, though. Not attractive.

“I have a crush on you.” That’s probably best, even if it sounds kind of immature. Casual, honest, not super mushy or dramatic, but clear. Let’s go with that.

Planeswalking to Nissa is easy, maybe because of the time I spent connected to her when we took down Ulamog and Kozilek. I just focus on the sense of her, and the next thing I know I’m in a dense woodland. (Didn’t most of those get dusted by Ulamog? Nissa must’ve been working on this one.) I land in a tangle of roots and vines, stumble, and barely manage to stay upright. Sunlight filters through the trees, but not a lot of it, especially compared to the brightness I just left behind on Kaladesh. I blink, trying to get my eyes to adjust.

“Chandra?” Nissa’s musical voice sounds right behind me. I turn, and then my brain stops working because she’s hugging me and I’m drowning in the floral scent of her, the feeling of her body pressed against mine, her arms tight around my waist. I wrap my arms around her automatically and lean my head on her shoulder. One of her hands comes up to stroke my hair. I might be crying.

We stay like that for what feels like a long time before she finally pulls away and looks me over curiously. “What brings you here?”

“I, uh,” I stammer. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” she says softly. “I’m glad to see you. How long will you stay?”

“As long as you want me to.” _Shit, Chandra, tone it down!_ “I mean… I don’t want to bother you, obviously, I just don’t have anywhere else I have to be.”

She smiles radiantly. _How is she even more beautiful than I remembered?_ “I would be glad of your company, Chandra.”

She takes my hand, threading her long fingers through mine, and guides me between the trees, stopping when we reach a small clearing in which one of the biggest elementals I’ve ever seen is standing quietly. Nissa extends a hand to it, and it bends down to lift us both easily up onto its shoulder.

“This is Ashaya. Zendikar. My friend.”

“Uh… nice to meet you?” I hazard. I’ve never been introduced to an elemental before, at least not one like Nissa’s. I guess this one is different from the others, though. I want to ask her how an elemental can be the actual plane, but I feel like talking about it in front of it would be rude, or something.

“Let us show you our progress,” Nissa says, and the elemental moves before I’m expecting it to. For a moment I think I’m going to fall, but Nissa wraps one arm around me and holds on to the elemental, keeping us both upright. I mumble my thanks and try to balance myself so she can let go, but she keeps her arm firmly in place, and I can’t actually feel it through my armor, but it still flusters me. _Keep it together, Chandra._ I try to ignore the contact and pay attention to our surroundings.

An elemental isn’t actually a bad way to travel, once you get used to it. I’d rather be flying, but Ashaya – Zendikar? – moves pretty smoothly, and it beats trying to push through the jungle on foot. Besides, Nissa’s next to me, arm still around me, sometimes speaking softly close to my ear, pointing out a plant or an animal or explaining something she’s done to help this part of the forest regrow. She doesn’t ask me many questions, and I’m grateful of it, because my mind’s a jumble. There’s a voice in my head screaming that I need to _tell her, tell her now_ but that’d be way too awkward, so instead I listen to her and admire the scenery and try to relax.

It’s nice to be with her again. Feels right, like sinking into a hot bath after a long day. I’ve missed her a lot. But something’s bothering me, and it gets worse the more we go on: she’s _different_ here, happier and more energetic and even more talkative, and the way she interacts with the elemental is different too. All her elementals are clearly bonded to her, but this one’s like… they’re one being, almost. I don’t like it, and it feels horrible not liking it because am I really jealous of a _plane_? I try to shake it off. She’s happier, and that’s a good thing.

Eventually the elemental pauses by the bank of a stream, and Nissa looks up at the sky.

“It will be dark soon,” she says, frowning. “Do you need to leave, or will you stay with me?”

I consider two terrifying prospects. I could go back to Kaladesh and face the wrath of Mrs. Pashiri, or I could spend the night with Nissa. _Not like that, Chandra!_ I’d much rather stay, though, however awkward it gets, so I draw a deep breath.

“I’ll stay.”

Nissa nods and the elemental starts walking, following the stream. It’s getting dark when we stop in front of a large tree and the elemental lifts us up into its branches, where… of course Nissa lives in a treehouse. There’s a small, round structure – a nest, basically – made of the branches of the tree and a lot of vines, coaxed into shape by Nissa’s magic, and a few platforms where plants I don’t recognize are growing. I guess she’s growing food? There are fruits, anyway. Nissa picks two of them and hands me one, taking the other for herself. She bites into it and I copy her. It’s good, soft and sweet with a sour aftertaste, and surprisingly filling.

After we’ve eaten and thrown the pits aside, Nissa looks me over, thoughtfully.

“You might wish to take off your armor before going inside,” she comments. “There isn’t much space.”

I nod and start fumbling with the buckles, feeling clumsier than usual under her calm gaze. It gets worse when she takes pity on me and comes to help, her deft fingers making short work of the fastenings. Finally, it’s all off, and she helps me lay it down on one of the platforms in a neater pile than I would ever bother making on my own. Then she leads me into the nest. It’s mostly dark, and there really isn’t much room. She must only use it for sleeping in.

“This is where I sleep,” she says. “I hope you will find it comfortable.”

“It’s nice,” I say truthfully.

I can’t see her face very well, but I think she smiles. She lies down, and I lie next to her, leaving as much space between us as I can. For a while, there’s silence. I’m processing what I came here to do, and what I’ve seen, and maybe I shouldn’t have stayed, because now I really have to say the thing, and in the darkness there’s nothing to distract me from the fact that I already know what she’s going to say. She said it before on Amonkhet, and I should have just accepted it instead of letting myself keep hoping. After what I’ve seen today, there’s no doubting. How can one stupid human woman who can’t hold a conversation compete with a whole world that Nissa’s, like, soulbonded to?

“Chandra?”

 _Shit._ She definitely heard that sob.

“Chandra, what’s wrong?”

“I–” I don’t know what I’m going to say, but that doesn’t stop me blurting it out. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Why?” She sounds confused. “I thought–”

“You’re fine here without me,” I rush on. “I mean, I knew you didn’t need me, of course you didn’t, that’s a good thing, but me being here doesn’t make a difference. I thought maybe it would. It was stupid.”

“Chandra,” she protests. “I’m very happy to have you here.”

“You already have better company than me!” I definitely don’t mean to say that, but my brain has shut off and my mouth is running on. Why am I like this?

She moves, and the next thing I know I’m in her arms again, my head resting on her chest, that same hand in my hair. For a moment I forget how to breathe. “Dear Chandra. You are not lesser than Ashaya, only… different. It gives me great pleasure to be able to share what we have been working on here with you, and simply to be with you.”

No way.

The way she said that… does she know what that sounded like? Is this part of her not remembering how to be friends with people, where she doesn’t realize that the word “dear” said in that tone means a lot more than just a friendly affection? Or maybe it’s a Zendikar thing. We’re not actually speaking the same language, after all. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I need to just do the thing I came here for, tell her how I feel about her, ask her if maybe she wants to date. Or do whatever it is Joraga warriors do with people they’re romantically involved with. Just have a reasonable conversation about it.

“Marry me,” I say instead. _Wait, WHAT?_

“What?” I can _feel_ the reaction, her whole body tensing. I scramble off of her, back away.

“I… shit! Sorry! I mean, uh–” _shitshitshitshitshitshit_ “–I didn’t mean that, obviously, haha, that would be weird, I just meant…” I’m floundering, my hands flapping aimlessly, and my hair’s on fire. I slap at the flames to put them out. Setting fire to her home is about the only thing that could make this worse.

She’s sitting up, and I can feel her staring at me. She doesn’t say anything else, though, so I have to keep going.

“I just meant… uh…” Nope, nothing. I can’t recover from this. I stand, bumping my head on the low ceiling. “I should go, I’m sorry. I fucked this up. I’m just going to–” Run away and hide and never come out again, because this is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done.

“Chandra–”

I planeswalk back to Kaladesh before whatever she was going to say next.

Mom looks up in surprise when I come barrelling in, on fire again and without my armor. “Chandra, what’s wrong?”

I shake my head and run to my bedroom.

She gets the story out of me a little later, when I’m in bed with my face buried in my pillow (thank you, Mom, for the fireproof bedding) and she’s seated on the edge of the bed stroking my back comfortingly. Somehow, she doesn’t laugh, though she does make a wry comment about me taking after Dad. (He didn’t realize they were a couple until they’d been together for a month and a half, I remember. I’m a different kind of disaster, but maybe I do get it from him. Why couldn’t I have inherited one of his useful traits instead?)

“So you just… left?”

“I couldn’t stay,” I moan. “I’m never going to be able to face her after this.”

“Oh, Chandra,” Mom’s still not laughing, but I’m pretty sure she’s amused. “It might not be that bad.”

“Not that bad?” I squeak. “What could possibly be worse?”

There’s a knock on the door, very quiet. I sit bolt upright, horrified, because I can _feel_ who’s on the other side and _oh no, what am I going to say_?

Mom gets up and opens the door. “Ah, hello, Nissa.”

“I brought Chandra’s armor,” Nissa’s voice is almost too soft for me to hear. “May I speak with her?”

I’m hoping Mom will save me, but instead she beckons Nissa in and, just to make things harder, says she’ll give us a chance to talk and leaves. Traitor.

Nissa sets my armor down near the door, comes to stand by my bed. I twist my hands in the sheets, not looking up at her. I’m shooting sparks in all directions, and I don’t want to think about what I look like right now.

“If you – if you didn’t mean what you said,” she says, after what feels like forever, “then what _did_ you mean?” I can’t read her tone, but she sounds distressed. I can’t blame her for that.

My throat feels like it’s being constricted. “I just meant,” I manage, “I mean – nobody does that, right? People don’t just say things like that, not to people they aren’t even _dating_ , that would be really weird. I just…”

“What did you mean?” Nissa repeats. I glance up at her, and wish I hadn’t. She looks upset, worried, and… hurt? How did I hurt her? Does she think I was only her friend because I wanted to be with her? 

“I just… really like you.” _Ugh. Why am I saying everything wrong?_ “I mean, not just like. When I’m with you, I feel… I don’t know, better. Like I’m a better person, I mean. Like you keep me grounded, somehow.” _Great. Back to overkill._ “And that’s just being your friend. That’s already enough to make me happy. But I guess I was hoping maybe someday I could be your…” I trail off, not sure what word to use.

“My wife?” Nissa’s voice is strained.

I groan. “I don’t – I mean, eventually, maybe, if you wanted to, but I didn’t–”

“ _Chandra_ ,” she cuts in, more emphatic than I’ve ever heard her. “Is that what you want?”

“I–” I stop, take a deep breath, try to steady myself. The answer bursts out anyway, shaky but certain. “Eventually. Yes.”

I still can’t look at her, but I feel her nod. I can't read any emotions in her voice. “And now?”

Another deep breath. I fumble for the right words. “Um. I guess the word would be girlfriend? If you’d like that, I mean. I’ll understand if you don’t, of course. I just… need to know if there’s a chance.” _Whew, that was almost coherent._

“I would–” it’s Nissa’s turn to stammer. “I would very much like that. Did you not know?”

“What? No, I – really?” I’ve lost words again. I look up at her, meet her eyes, and _holy shit, she looks so happy_.

“Really, my beloved,” she says earnestly, and reaches out to cup my cheek.

I discover two things, then: first, that my favorite thing for Nissa to say, ever, is _beloved_ , and second, that kissing her is my new favorite thing to do.

After a while, she pulls back far enough to look at me, and her green-on-green eyes are shining. It’s worth stopping the kissing to see her looking at me like that, even if I wish I didn’t have to pick one.

“When you said marry,” she whispers to me, looking like she’s arranging the words carefully in her head before saying them, “it felt… right. I agree, perhaps not yet, but in the future….”

“Oh,” I croak. “Uh. Cool. I mean, uh, we could make it a long engagement….”

Nissa cocks her head. “I… I think I will need to learn more about your people’s courtship customs.”

Mrs. Pashiri is going to be delighted.


End file.
